Destination: Cuba

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Money & Costs

For seasoned budget travelers Cuba can be a bit of a financial shock. There’s no network of dirt-cheap backpacker hostels here and not a lot of bargaining potential. In fact, compared with say Guatemala or Peru, you could feel yourself staring at a veritable financial conundrum with little or no room to maneuver. Furthermore there is a tendency in Cuba to herd all foreign visitors around in one state-controlled tourist sector. Follow this well-trodden path of organized excursions and prepackaged cultural ‘experiences’ at your peril. The costs will soon add up.

With a little guile and a certain amount of resilience, however, it needn’t all be overpriced hotel rooms and wallet-whacking credit-card bills. Underneath the surface (and contrary to what a lot of tour reps will tell you) Cuba has a whole guidebook’s worth of cheaper alternatives. On the hotel front, the vibrant casa particular scene can cut accommodation costs by more than half, while do-it-yourself grocery purchasing and an ability to muck in with the resourceful locals on trucks, buses, trains and bicycles can give you access to a whole new world of interesting food and transport opportunities.

For those more interested in service and comfort, prices are equally variable, from CUC$50 per person at Varadero’s cheapest all-inclusive to CUC$200 per person at a swanky Playa Esmeralda resort. If you’re interested in getting away to the beach, prearranged air and hotel packages from Canada and Europe can be absurdly affordable (less than US$500 for a week in Varadero from Toronto) and seasoned Cuba travelers often take these deals because it works out cheaper than just the airfare alone. Most resorts and hotels offer big discounts for children under 12 years of age; it’s worth asking. Children also travel half-price on Víazul buses, and many museums and attractions offer a 50% discount for kids.

As with most islands, Cuba struggles with food supply and prices reflect this – especially if you crave something imported like canned corn or nuts. Paladares and casas particulares usually offer good value, with monstrous meal portions (no rationing here), including a pork chop, rice and beans, salad and French fries, costing around CUC$8. Add a couple of beers, dessert and a tip and you’re looking at CUC$12 (or more). Drinking is considerably more affordable than eating, with a strong mojito costing CUC$2 (in a non-Hemingway-esque bar) and a fresh juice or beer CUC$1.

For tourists, there are many transport options and prices to go with them. From Habana to Santiago de Cuba for example, a trip of 861km, you’ll pay CUC$114 to fly one-way with Cubana, from CUC$50 to CUC$62 to take the train and from CUC$41 to CUC$52 on the bus. Rental cars start at CUC$35 a day for the crappiest Fiat to CUC$220 a day for a convertible Audi, though a more average price is something in the region of CUC$65 for a weekly rental of a Toyota Yaris.

There is, of course, the double economy, whereby Convertibles and Cuban pesos circulate simultaneously. In theory, tourists are only supposed to use Convertibles but, in practice, there is nothing to stop you walking into a cadeca (change booth) and swapping your Convertibles into moneda nacional (pesos). With an exchange rate of 24 pesos per Convertible, there are fantastic saving opportunities with pesos if you’re willing to sacrifice a little (or a lot!) in quality, service and/or comfort. For example, a pizza in a fast-food joint costs CUC$1, but street pizzas cost seven pesos (less than CUC$0.25). Pesos are also useful for urban transport and some cultural activities (such as movies), but almost everything else is sold to foreigners only in Convertibles: the symphony or theater, interprovincial transport and taxis are but a few examples where Cubans will pay in pesos, but you won’t.

Before you become indignant about the marked price differential, remember that the double economy cuts both ways: while Cubans may sometimes pay less for the same services as foreigners they also have to stand in line, frequent ration shops and stay in the kind of fly-blown substandard hotels that most foreigners wouldn’t poke a stick at. Furthermore, Cubans (who earn between 190 and 325 pesos, or CUC$8 and CUC$13, a month) have to survive in an entirely different economy from affluent outsiders; a financial minefield where access to valuable Convertibles is a daily crapshoot between tips, personal guile and who you know.

Cuban-Americans traveling legally to Cuba in order to visit relatives are currently restricted to spending the equivalent of US$50 a day. This was reduced from US$167 a day by the Bush administration in June 2004. There are also new limits on how much money Cuban-Americans can send back to the island from the US.

Cuba on the Cheap

Accommodation and transport are two areas where foreigners almost always have to pay in Convertibles and the bill can add up, fast. Food is another budget parasite. Here are some budget-friendly ideas:

Families traveling together are pulling from the same financial pool; owners of private rooms recognize this and will often offer a discount to travelers with children. This can occur in hotels too.
In private rooms, try negotiating a discount for multiple nights or by agreeing not to use the air-con.
Never arrive anywhere with a jinetero (male hustler) in tow. This universally hikes the room price up by CUC$5 a night.
The cheapest accommodation is in campismo cabins, which are often payable by the person, not the unit: good for solo travelers or those with a bike or car.
Astro buses are cheaper than Víazul coaches, and trucks are cheaper than both. Stoics might want to try arranging a botella (free or cheap lift) with the amarillos (yellow jackets; workers who match potential passengers with empty cars). Use this method and you’ll save bundles.
Learn the public transport mechanism, rent a bicycle or take to the streets and walk.
Food sold in pesos – bread at the Empresa Cubana del Pan, fruits and vegetables at agropecuarios (agricultural markets) or full meals from someone’s living-room window such as pizza or cajitas (take-out meals in small boxes) – is very kind on the wallet.
Cooking at ‘home’ is cheap and fun. Hit the market and host a dinner party.
Brush up on some Spanish: nothing jacks up a price or keeps it inflated more effectively than an inability to communicate.

HOW MUCH?

Room in a casa particular: CUC$15-30
Museum entrance: CUC$1-5
Taxi: CUC$2-4
Bike rental per day: CUC$3-5
Internet use per hour: CUC$6

Travelling to Cuba?
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